5 Fantastic Football Apps for the iPhone and iPod Touch Devices

Football season is upon us. If you consider yourself a fan, hopefully you have all of your necessities at the ready: an HDTV the size of a refrigerator; an oversized foam hand emblazoned with your favorite team’s mascot; snacks, sweet and savory alike; and plenty of heated opinions for the next water-cooler discussion or, failing that, for yelling at the radio. If you have an iPhone or iPod Touch, then consider yourself lucky, as you’ll have even more ways to enjoy the season. Here are the top five ways to bring the excitement of Football Season to your iDevice.

ESPN Fantasy Football 2010: This is the essential fantasy football app. With ESPN Fantasy Football 2010, you can carry the entire fantasy football experience in the palm of your hand, with high-end graphics and an intuitive interface that beats the desktop web browser version, hands down. This app not only lets the user manage multiple teams and leagues, but also access news feeds with valuable stats, news, and more. The only drawback is that ESPN Fantasy Football 2010 will make fantasy football more addictive than ever.

CBS Sports Pro Football: Tired of having to page through all the unimportant news of the day, just to get to those few precious football updates and videos? Then, first of all, you may want to examine your priorities. Second, does CBS have the app for you! CBS Sports Pro Football takes the day’s breaking football news, play-by-play analysis, videos, and standings, and weaves them into a free and fun to use app for the iPhone. Staying up to speed has never been easier.

SlingPlayer Mobile: Major League Baseball has its own live-streaming app for the iPhone, but unfortunately football fans are left wanting. Enter SlingPlayer mobile. Sure, at $29.99 the app is on the expensive side, and, yes, the app requires a Slingbox which might itself cost about $100, but in the end it will turn your iPhone into the ultimate entertainment device: live television, DVR, and remote control, all rolled into one. SlingPlayer will stream whatever content you get from your cable or satellite provider over 3G and WiFi, football included. Put another way, it is very, very cool.

Backbreaker Football: Backbreaker isn’t just the best football simulation on the iPhone– it’s one of the best games in the app store, period. Unlike other football games, Backbreaker Football puts the player down on the field, at eye-level with the players, right in the center of the action. The graphics in this game are incredible, and the hits are so hard you can almost feel them. Add to this a great list of features like multiplayer gaming modes, custom teams, and online score sharing. This game lives up to its hype.

History of American Football: If watching football, playing fantasy football, and getting into some simulated football isn’t enough for you, why not learn about the rich and storied history of American football? This is the sole purpose of the History of American Football app for the iPhone. This app is an offline encyclopedia of football, with a clean user interface and some nice hi-res photos to class it up a little. Articles include History of Professional Football, Origins of College Football, Players, Rules, and more. Who said learning couldn’t be fun?